Selling Video Games To Women: Is It Really That Hard?

The Entertainment Software Association recently released their latest batch of statistics on video game sales and player demographics. There’s lots of interesting stuff in there, but the numbers on player gender sparked some chatter last week. According to the ESA, 45% of all gamers are women. That percentage stays pretty much the same for the “most frequent video game purchasers,” of which women represent 46%.

Nothing too surprising, but there were two threads of discussion prompted by it. Some people were dismissive, claiming that most women gamers are “only” playing casual games (though the ESA stats make no mention of genre preferences by gender), and therefore aren’t a concern for most developers. There were also those who pointed out that ignoring 46% of steady purchasers is bad business, and mused over how best to cater to the female market.

Let me begin with a story. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of making a new friend. Games eventually entered into our conversation. She mentioned she was eager to try some, but had no idea where to start. We found a coffee shop, and as our drinks cooled, I began to suss out what she might like to play. Read more on The Mary Sue…

Leolah Brown, sister to Bobby Brown and aunt to Bobbi Kristina was kicked out of her niece’s funeral yesterday after verbally lashing at Pat Houston Bobbi Kristina’s former manager as well as sister-in-law to Bobbi Kristina’s mother Whitney Houston. Phew. That was a mouthful.